Fence



(No Model.)

J. B. BRADFORD. FENCE.

No. 415,238. Patented Nov. 19, 1889.

NlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BLACK BRADFORD, OF MIDDLEPORT, OHIO.

FENCE.

SPEGIFICATlION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,238, dated November 19, 1889.

Application filed March 20, 1888. Serial No. 267,842. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN BLACK BRADFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Middleport, in the county of Meigs and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fences, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in fences of the class composed of supports, rails, and wire ties; and it consists in the construction and novel combination of parts, hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fence embodying the invention, taken from the side on which the wire railt-ies engage the brace and support wires. Fig. 2 is a view of a part of the opposite side of the fence, showing one of the anchor-posts. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 00 cc of Fig. Fig. l is a detail perspective view. Fig. 5 is a detail view similar to Fig. 4, but showing the rider and top rails lapping and without a reduced and squared shoulder.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A A designate crossed braces converging upward from the opposite sides of the fence and forming the upper fork to and the lower fork a, respectively, above and below the points of crossing.

B B are the riders, with their ends overlapping in the upper forks.

C O are wires forming closed loops that embrace the ends of the crossed braces above the points of crossing and run above and below the lapped ends of the corresponding riders.

D D are the top rails having the lapped ends d, which are formed by halving the overlapping ends of adjacent rails, and thereby forming shoulders (1, against which the ends of the halved portions bear. The ends of said rails are held in place in the lower fork a by means of the wires E, that engage over the braces below their points of crossing, and passing below the lapped ends of the rails hold the same in the forks.

F F are longitudinally-inclined brace and tightening rails, which also coact with the crossed braces to support the fence, the rails and braces at the end of each panel forming together a true fence -post. Each of said rails F has its upper end passed horizontally through the loop of wire 0 of the corresponding brace A, and its outer end is then pressed to the ground, against which it is firmly held until the loop of wire f is firmly secured around it and the top rail crossing it. It will thus be seen that the lower ends of the three elements which comprise the post rest on the ground in the form of a triangle, of which the line joining the lower ends of the crossed braces forms the base, which is perpendicular to the line of the fence, and the upper ends of the said elements are tied together, thereby completing a triangular pyramid. which, obviously, will stand alone.

By the strain of the wire loops 0, caused by depressing the outer ends of the rails F, the upper ends of the corresponding crossbraces are bound tightly against the sides of the lapped ends of the riders, and the upper strands of the loops 0 are bound tightly down against the top of the lapped joint of the riders, so that said ends cannot separate or move.

When the rails F have their lower ends on the ground, the top rails, being pressed up into the lower forks by the Wire loops E and being tied to said rails F, hold the ends of the latter down, and the rails F and the corresponding top rails and crossed braces have three points of connection by which, jointly, the fence is held up and sustained. The said points are the connections of the rails F and the crossed braces by the wire loops the connections of the crossed braces and the top rails by the wire loops E, and the connections of the top rails and rails F by the wire loops f. As the crossed braces,in addition to their transverse inclination, are also inclined longitudinally in the opposite direction to the rails F, the lower two of said points of connection prevent the fence from having any longitudinal motion in either direction, as each upper connection forms a triangle with the two corresponding lower sections and binds the crossed braces and the rails F together at their tops.

One wire strand G of each wire loop f is extended down along the side of the corresponding rail F to a point near thelower end of said rail, where it is engaged to the latter by a tight wire loop g. The rails H H then have their ends inserted between the wire strands G and the corresponding rails F. The said rails 11 extend between adjacent rails F,

the ends of the rails inany one panel overly-- ing those of the adjoining panel on one side and underlying those on the opposite side.

I I are wire loops surrounding the rails F and corresponding wires G between the rails II. The loops draw the said wires toward the rails F and bind the rails H to the latter. The rails II are thus supported only by the rails F and wires G, and, as the rails F are inclined, the panels are also inclined and break joints, the joint between any two meeting rails in adjoining panels being neither vertically above nor below adjacent upper or lower joints.

At about the interval of every ten panels vertical posts J are erected with their lower ends set firmly in the ground and their upper portions tied by wire to a suitable upper portion of the fence, preferably to the top rail. These are used, principally, in parts where floods and high winds prevail, and serve as anchors.

If desired, barbed, fence-wires may be substituted for the lower rails H.

If desired or convenient, poles maybe used in building the fence, or boards may be substituted for the lower rails.

Ipret'er to halve and shoulder the joints of the rider and top rails, on account of the advantage gained in forming the said rails continuous; but under certain circumstances it may be found more convenient to simply lap the ends of the rails, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the fence is strongly and substantially constructed in every respect. 13y firmly binding the overlapping ends of the rider and top rails to the crossed braces, and then binding the bracing-rails to the top rail after employing it as a lever to twist the loop, which connects the upper ends of the crossed braces, a firm integral structure is completed, which is adapted to stand alone and support the panel-rails.

I am aware of Patents No. 184,924, to Sullivan, No. 353,437, to Baker, and No. 369,751, to Stiles, and I disclaim the construction shown therein. My fence differs from these patents in the manner of connecting the elements of the post, in the manner of connecting the adjacent ends of the rider and top rails, and also in the fact that each top rail is connected at three points to the fence.

Having described my invention, I claim- In a fence, the inclined crossed stakes A and the inclined binder-stake F, resting upon the ground and forming a tripod support for the rider-rail, the binder-stake fitting between the rider-rail and one of the crossed stakes, the single-wire tie connecting the upper ends of the crossed stakes A and passing under and over both the rider-rail and the binderstake,in combination with the top rail D, the wire tie E, connecting the crossed stakes below the rider-rail and forming a support for JOHN BLACK BRADFORD.

Witnesses:

O. A. Bowman JAMES H. RALsToN. 

